


we now return you to your previously scheduled entertainment

by antivillain (museofspeed)



Category: Newsflesh Trilogy - Mira Grant
Genre: Adopted Sibling Incest, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 03:12:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12998607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/museofspeed/pseuds/antivillain
Summary: It's been a year and a half since the events of "Coming to You Live," and the team is getting together again at Dr. Abbey's, this time with a few extra guests along for the ride. But nothing is ever simple when the Masons are involved.





	we now return you to your previously scheduled entertainment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NutterZoi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NutterZoi/gifts).



> Thank you to my lovely beta squad! Happy Yuletide, NutterZoi! I hope you enjoy it.

"This is going to be a disaster," Alaric said. 

"It will _not,_ " Maggie shoved him towards the kitchen. "Come on, we have to be ready to go when Mahir gets here. Get packing."

"I just hate the timing of it. Why'd Alisa have to go on her big adventure _now?_ " Alaric grabbed a cooler. "She should be with us."

"She doesn't want to hang out with us stuffy old people anyway." Maggie put the backpack full of baby stuff down by the door and went to grab another suitcase. "She's still checking in twice a day?"

"Yeah," Alaric said, filling the cooler with baby food. Dr. Abbey was well-stocked for a not-so-secret mad science lab, but Davy was entering her picky eating phase and the last thing they needed was to run out in the middle of nowhere. "Did you remember to pack extra diapers?"

"Of course," Maggie said. "And the baby clothes and the toiletries and clothes and even pajamas. We've got this covered."

"What about the presents?" 

"Already in the car. Stop worrying, it's going to be fine." Maggie leaned up and pressed a kiss to Alaric's cheek.

"Hair dye!" Alaric said, flipping through the list on his phone. "We were going to bring Georgia more hair dye! And Coke!"

Maggie rolled her eyes and put her hand over his screen, pulling his phone down. "We can get it on the way to the airport."

Alaric grimaced and pocketed the phone. "I just can't shake the feeling something's going to go wrong. It always does when the Masons are involved."

"Yeah, I know." Maggie glanced down the hall, towards the room where Davy was hopefully still napping. She was quiet, at least. That was something. "But they're our friends, and we love them no matter how insane they make us. And if we don't come visit the one time we actually have an _invitation_ , we'd have to stop complaining about how they've cut off all contact, and no one wants that."

"I do like complaining about them," Alaric said, almost reluctantly. He took a deep breath. "So we're doing this?"

"We're doing this." Maggie smiled, and as usual, the world seemed just a little brighter. "Hey, maybe old age has relaxed them a little, right? I mean, they've been living the settled down, domestic life in Canada for years now. Maybe they're reasonable, normal people now."

"The Masons. Normal." Alaric shuddered. "In my _nightmares._ "

 

"I don't feel entirely right taking you and Sanjukta with me," Mahir said, leaning against the frame of the door as Nandini packed child-sized clothes into the purple suitcase they had bought just for the occasion. "Flying that far is unpleasant enough when you're an adult. San will be miserable."

"She'll be just as miserable if you go without her. You know how much she loves you. And her _Auntie Maggie._ How that woman can spoil my child from afar without having so much as met her, I'll never understand."

"Maggie spoils _everyone._ " Mahir sighed and wandered over, dropping a hand on her shoulder. "I'm also worried about you. You haven't traditionally gotten along well with the rest of the team."

Nan hummed agreement, sitting back and covering his hand with hers. "Do you think Shaun will be upset if I punch him in the face?"

Mahir smiled. "I honestly think he'll be disappointed if you don't. I won't be able to talk you out of this, will I?"

"You've never been able to talk me out of anything. And we've already bought the tickets, so I don't know what you expected." Nan turned around, standing on tiptoe she could press a kiss to Mahir's face. "Besides, maybe once they see how cute San is, they'll stop calling in the middle of the night."

"That's happened much less since Maggie and I took over," Mahir said, dry amusement coloring his tone. 

"Much less isn't _never._ " Nan tossed her hair over her shoulder and went back to packing up their daughter's stuff. "It'll be a good experience for her. You'll see."

Mahir shook his head. "I hope you're right."

Nan smiled brightly. "I'm always right. You'll see. We're not making a mistake."

 

"This was a terrible mistake," Georgia said.

Shaun put a hand on the small of her back, maneuvering her towards the van. "You've said that eight times today alone. We're still going."

"I meant it. This was a bad idea. I don't want to see everyone again. I definitely don't want to see Dr. Abbey. I haven't had any problems since she fixed my organs. I'm _fine._ "

"Yeah, and we're keeping you that way." Shaun pressed a kiss to the corner of her head. "It'll be fun. You and Mahir can do your stuffy Newsie thing where you make jokes and neither of you smiles about it because you're too serious and dignified."

"We don't do that."

Shaun snorted. "George, get in the van or I'm driving."

She sighed. "I hate you."

"I know." Shaun pulled her close, tugging her into a real kiss. 

Georgia leaned against him, enjoying the brief moment of intimacy. She loved her friends. She even missed them. But she was used to the little world she and Shaun had built. It was different when other people were around. _They_ were different. Even with the people who loved them best.

She shut her eyes, and leaned her head on his shoulder, sunglasses bumping against his neck. "We're really doing this."

Shaun held her for another moment, then pushed her gently towards the van. "We are."

Ready or not, they were going to reunite the crew. What was left of them, anyway.

 

Mahir was not the least bit surprised that Sanjukta had immediately charmed Maggie. But then, he could hardly talk. He was just as taken with little Davy. 

“She’s lovely,” he said, smiling at Maggie. "You two must be so proud."

Maggie beamed. "You're one to talk. San's every bit as cute in person as she is in pictures."

Sanji giggled, throwing her arms around Maggie's shoulders. "Auntie Maggie, can I meet your dogs?"

Maggie hugged the girl back. "Of _course_ you can." She looked up at Mahir. "I love her. I might just keep her."

Davy yawned, showing the teeth that were just starting to poke out of her gums, then wrapped her hand around Mahir's finger. He smiled. "Only if I get to keep yours. How about it, Davy? Want to come back to London with me?"

“Nooo!” San ran back over to Mahir, throwing his arms around his legs. 

Nandini snorted, smirking over at him. “No more babies. One was enough.” 

Mahir laughed and passed Davy over to Alaric so he could sweep his own daughter into his arms. “Don’t worry, love. I could never replace you. You're the most perfect child in the world.”

San grinned and ducked her head against Mahir's chest. But only for a moment. Then she was wriggling free and running back to Maggie. "Where are the _doggies?_ "

Maggie smiled and stood up, offering San her hand. "Love your priorities. Come on, I'll introduce you. In fact, we just got a new one we haven't come up with a name for yet. Do you think you can help us with that?"

San's delighted squeal made her answer all too clear. Nan watched as Maggie led her away. "Those poor dogs."

"They like the attention." Alaric shot a fond smile after Maggie, then looked back over at the Mahir and Nan. "It's nice seeing you in person when there isn't a world-ending emergency, for once."

"Don't speak too soon," Nan said. "I've heard enough stories from Mahir that I'm pretty sure being in the room with the Masons qualifies as a world-ending emergency."

"And yet, still you came," Mahir said.

Nan shrugged. "I've heard bloggers for your site have a tendency to vanish into the wilds of Canada without a trace. Someone needed to make sure you'd actually come home."

Mahir shot her a look, but he couldn't disguise the fondness in the expression. Despite his protests, he was glad to have her with him. Nan and San were his world. The American bloggers might be his closest friends, but they would never understand him as well as his wife did.

"Do Shaun and Georgia know how big the crowd's going to be?" Alaric asked.

Mahir shrugged. "They've been as difficult to contact as always. I sent a message through the site, but…."

"They never responded." Alaric shook his head. "Remember when waiting more than an hour for response from Georgia was cause for alarm?"

"Yes," Mahir said, "but that was a different time. And a different Georgia."

"Well," Nan said, shattering the silence. "They have no one but themselves to blame if they're surprised. They're journalists. If nothing else they should understand the value of good communication."

That actually surprised Alaric into laughing. 

 

Georgia and Shaun were the last to arrive, which was expected. They may not have been replying to emails, but they had to maintain some contact with Dr. Abbey. It was her secret lab they were all meeting at, after all, something she didn't always seem entirely happy about. Georgia pulled to a stop about a mile out and glanced over at Shaun. "I guess we're really doing this."

Shaun turned in his seat, tucking a leg up under his knee. "Why are you so reluctant anyway? Last month you couldn't wait."

"I know." Georgia turned, looking down the road. She couldn't see the lab from here, but she knew it was there. Waiting for them. "But… you know them as well as I do. You know they'll want us to come back. Even if they can keep themselves from actually saying it."

"Yeah, but we don't have to _go._ "

"That's the thing." Georgia leaned back in the seat, tilting her head towards Shaun. "What if I want to?"

Shaun was quiet for a moment. Then he unbuckled his seatbelt so he could climb over, wrapping his arms around her. "Do you?" he asked, voice low.

"I don't know." She closed her eyes, leaning into his chest. "A part of me does. A part of me really _misses_ it. Another part hates the idea of stepping into the spotlight again. You know how it always is. We can never just report the news."

Shaun didn't point out that they could start reporting the real stories from Canada, or suggest that they ease their way back in. She could have kissed him for that. They both knew she'd never be able to go in anything but full charge ahead. Either she'd be making her way to the biggest, most dangerous stories or she'd be hanging out on the sidelines writing articles that may have been important in their way but certainly weren't world-shattering. She'd never been good at middle ground. 

He was still holding her a few minutes later when there was a thump on the roof of the car. 

Shaun groaned and moved back into his own seat, giving Georgia's arm a final squeeze on the way. He rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Hey, Foxy."

There was a silence, then Foxy's head dipped down in front of his open window. "How'd you know it was me?"

"As opposed to all the _other_ people around here who might be jumping on our roof?" Shaun raised an eyebrow. "Lucky guess. What's up?"

"Shannon said you two might stop around here." Foxy smiled brightly. "She said I should wait out here and make sure you weren't 'having a last minute quickie.' She said I should remind you that she's providing you with a perfectly nice room and not even making you pay for it and you're welcome to come get it, any time now."

Georgia found herself, as usual, grateful for the sunglasses that kept so much of her face hidden. It made it so much easier to keep her expression as unmoving and neutral as possible. In this particular situation, she needed as much help as she can get. "Amazing how she can manage terrible bedside manner even from a distance."

Shaun, who had spent a lot more time with Foxy the last time they'd visited, just grinned. "Well, you can remind Dr. Abbey that she gets to play with both my blood _and_ George's. Not to mention whatever equipment she's asked Maggie to bring by, and any zombies I can catch. A fair trade for a little time at the world's least homey bed and breakfast, don't you think?"

Foxy shrugged. "I think you should start driving."

"Not with you on the roof," Georgia said.

"Aww." She flipped off the van and pulled open the door, taking a seat in the back. "You're no fun."

"Something Shaun's been telling me every day of my life." Georgia waited until both Foxy and Shaun had buckled up, both out of habit, concern for their safety, and because she was just as capable of being as petty and obnoxious as her brother was when she wanted to be. Then she took off down the road. Shaun reached over, dropping a comforting hand on her shoulder, and they watched as the former Shady Cove forestry center pulled into view.

The whole crew was outside waiting for them, which meant that either Foxy had given them advance warning, or someone had been monitoring the security feeds. Shaun glanced back at her in the mirror. She seemed guileless as ever, but with Foxy, that didn’t mean a whole lot. 

She was bounding out of the van almost before Georgia had pulled to a stop. Georgia glared after her. “I _know_ she had her seatbelt on.”

“Don’t think about it too hard.” Shaun pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, then slid out his side, ignoring Georgia’s glare. 

“I hate that man,” she muttered, then opened her door. 

Foxy had already vanished, leaving just Shaun and Georgia's friends. Alaric and Maggie were there, a small bundle in Alaric’s arms that had to be their new child, next to Mahir and a woman who looked like she was trying to make Shaun’s head explode with her eyes alone. There was a little girl behind the woman’s legs, peeking out shyly. Shaun and Georgia stood across from the rest of them.

It was Maggie who moved first, running over to grab Shaun in a tight hug. That broke the ice. She was quickly joined by Alaric, carefully holding the baby so that she wouldn't get crushed, and even Mahir, all of them collapsing on each other under the weight of shared history and pain and how things were finally, _finally_ okay.

Georgia was left alone. She turned to the only two others holding back and offered the woman a slim smile. "You must be Nandini. And..." she looked down at the girl. "Sanjukta, I presume?" The little girl nodded, still staring wide-eyed.

"And you're the legendary Georgia Mason." Nandini's accept was as crisp as Mahir's, and there was something extremely familiar about her scowl. Georgia spent a moment contemplating where she'd seen it before until it hit her: she'd most often seen that face in the mirror. Nandini was as good at looking vaguely disapproving as Georgia was. That sure was… worth contemplating.

"What's left of her, anyway." Georgia glanced back at her friends, who were beginning to untangle themselves from each other. "Sort of left my legendary days buried with my original ashes."

“That’s our George!” Shaun stepped over to her and slung an arm over her shoulders. “Always ready to make light of her incredibly traumatic and literally world-changing death. Hi, Nan, I’m—“

Nandini’s fist slammed into his cheek before he could finish, sending him sprawling. Georgia blinked, ducking out of the way. 

“I know who you are, Mr. Mason,” Nandini said. “I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”

Mahir stepped up next to Georgia. “I love my wife,” he said quietly, his voice filled with awe. 

“Yeah,” Georgia said staring at the furious woman standing over her brother. “I kind of love your wife too.”

“Hey!” Shaun said, rubbing his cheek and shooting Georgia a look. “Whose side are you on?”

Georgia smiled and stepped up to him, offering a hand up. “Yours, always, dumbass. But I’ve long ago learned that when someone punches you? You probably deserve it.”

“Remember that time you broke my nose?” Alaric added. 

Shaun winced, letting Georgia pull him up. “Yeah, I was… not at my best at the time.”

“Understatement of the century,” Mahir muttered. 

“Right.” Shaun turned towards Nandini again and cleared his throat. “Ms. Gowda, I would like to profusely apologize for my past behavior towards both you and your husband.” A beat. “Alaric, I am also sorry about your nose.”

“I can punch you again,” Nandini said. 

“I won’t find the second one half as funny,” Georgia said sharply, her hand tightening around Shaun’s arm. 

Mahir put an arm around Nandini, both to comfort her and to keep her in place before she did anything rash. “Let’s get to the introductions, shall we? You’ve met Nandini, and this is… Sanjukta?”

He turned, looking towards his daughter, who was now hiding behind Maggie’s legs, peeking out through wide brown eyes. 

Maggie crouched next to her, putting a hand on her back. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Sanjukta was quiet for another moment, staring around at all the adults. Then, in a quiet voice that still managed to carry, she said, “Mummy always says it’s _bad_ to hit people.” 

Nandini gasped in horror, stepping towards her. “San, love, I—“

Mahir, surprisingly, smiled, putting a hand on Nandini’s shoulder. “It’s all right.” He crouched down. “Sanjukta, this is _Shaun Mason._ ”

Sanjukta gasped, then tucked her head next to Maggie’s and started whispering. 

“I’m not sure how to feel about the fact that you’ve apparently taught your child it’s not okay to hit unless it’s me,” Shaun said. 

Georgia snorted. “Sounds like good parenting to me.”

“It’s okay,” Maggie said, pushing Sanjukta gently towards the others. “You can ask him.”

Sanjukta slowly walked towards them, eyes wide and focused squarely on Shaun. He looked down at her curiously. Kids had never been a big part of his life since back when he was one. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do. 

“Is it true you fought a _zombie bear?_ ” she asked, voice full of awe. 

Oh. _This_ he knew how to deal with. “Yeah, I sure did. Also a zombie moose.”

Sanjukta gave a delighted shriek and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. “How big was it? Were you scared?”

Shaun crouched down next to her, flashing his biggest and brightest Irwin grin. "It was _huge._ But I wasn't scared. I had one of the best Irwins that ever lived with me."

"Becks!" Sanjukta said. 

Shaun nodded. "That's right. Becks and me made a great team. That bear didn't stand a chance."

"Hey," Alaric said. Georgia glanced up, then nudged Shaun with her knee to get his attention. 

Alaric held out the baby in his arms. Maggie stood next to him, beaming.

"We'd like you to officially meet Davy Georgette Garcia-Kwong," Maggie said.

"Oh, Maggie, she's _beautiful,_ " Georgia said, stepping forward.

Shaun stood up, winking at Sanjukta before joining Georgia around the baby. "Congratulations, you two."

“We did get your card,” Maggie said. ”I mean, I might have expected more from two _writers_ than ‘Congrats from G and S,’ but points for trying.”

"You know why we had to do that," Georgia said. "We _are_ trying. But we still have to be careful."

"Yeah," Maggie said. "We know."

She looked like she was about to say more, but Alaric stepped forward with the baby. "Want to hold her?" he asked.

Georgia looked down at the baby, an uncharacteristic uncertainty settling around her shoulders. "Can I?" she asked. "I mean… is it okay?" She couldn't think of a time she'd actually held a baby in either of her lives. 

Maggie relaxed subtly, smiling, and nodded. "Of course. Here, let me show you how."

Alaric passed Davy over, and Maggie helped Georgia position her arms. "She's so _tiny,_ " Georgia said.

"Yeah," Alaric said, "but you should have seen her when she was a newborn. She's grown so much since then."

"We can't put her down outside anymore," Maggie said. "She's too good at crawling."

"Davy Georgette, huh?" Georgia smiled down at the baby in her arms, then looked up at Maggie and Alaric. "They'd be honored."

Maggie didn't say anything, but she and Alaric exchanged smiles. 

The door to the lab slammed open, and Dr. Shannon Abbey poked her head out, scowling at them. "If you're done hugging and/or trying to kill each other, I'd like to get Georgia's check up taken care of some time this year. Some of us have actual work to get back to."

"It's like she forgets she's the one who asked us to come back here," Shaun said.

"Or wants _us_ to forget." She carefully handed Davy back to Maggie and started towards the door. "Might as well get this over with."

The rest of the crew filed in after her. Shaun started to follow, but found himself drawn short by a sharp _yank_ on his ear. Nandini smiled sweetly at him.

"If my daughter becomes an Irwin because of your influence on her, you're going to wish that bear had eaten you."

She let go before he could respond and strode to the door. 

Shaun stared after her, then looked over at Mahir. "Your wife is _terrifying._ "

"Yeah," Mahir was looking at her with an expression that could only be described as _besotted._ "Isn't she fantastic?"

 

Shaun was pacing in front of the door like a restless cat. Alaric had gone to put Davy down for a nap, and Mahir, Nandini, and Sanjukta were getting settled in their rooms. 

Maggie could have gone to help either of them, but she didn't want to leave Shaun alone. Not when he was like this. "Watching the door isn't going to make her come out faster. Why don't you go unpack your things?"

Shaun stopped, giving a startled look as if he'd forgotten she was there. That more than anything told Maggie just how troubled he was. Shaun usually had the best situational awareness of any of them. "I want to be here when she gets out."

"You will," Maggie said. "But that doesn't mean you have to be right at the door."

Shaun walked over and flopped into the chair next to her. "You don't get it. I hate that she's going through this without me at all. I want to make sure I'm as close as I can be." 

Close enough to hear her if she screamed, Maggie thought, but didn't say. Shaun hardly needed her help to be more paranoid.

"Why didn't you push Dr. Abbey to let you stay with her, then?" she asked.

Shaun shook his head. "It wasn't her call. It was George's."

 _That_ came as a surprise. Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Really? She didn't want you in with her?"

"I think she did," Shaun gave a slight shrug, looking away. "But you know George."

Maggie nodded. It was amazing how someone so completely dependent on one person could be simultaneously as fiercely independent. But that was Georgia. She'd shove even Shaun away just to prove she could stand on her own.

“I’ll wait with you,” she said. 

Shaun glanced at her. “You don’t have to.”

“Yeah,” Maggie said, “I do.”

Shaun didn’t respond to that, but he didn’t start argue or start pacing again either. Maggie counted that as a win. 

"How are _you_ doing?" she asked after she felt like the silence had stretched on long enough.

Shaun looked at her. "Is that a polite way of asking if I'm still hearing voices?"

Maggie shrugged.

Shaun shook his head. "No, I've been a one George guy for awhile now."

"That's great," Maggie said, her face breaking into a big grin. "Shaun, I'm so proud of you."

He didn't smile back. "It was harder than it should have been. When I started taking the pills, before they actually kicked in she kept telling me I was killing her. Again."

Maggie's smile faded and she reached over, putting a hand on his arm. "Shaun..."

Shaun didn't look up. "I know she was never real. It was all… me having trouble letting go."

"That doesn't make it any easier." Maggie looked up, giving him a soft smile. "She was your lifeline for so long. It can't have been easy to let go. But you're doing the right thing."

“I know.” Shaun straightened a little. “And things are better now that she’s gone.”

“I bet Georgia’s happy.”

The door opened and Georgia and Dr. Abbey came out. Georgia saw Shaun and flashed him a big smile. Bigger than Maggie thought she’d ever seen on Georgia before. 

Shaun smiles back. “Yeah, she is.” Then he stood up, going over to Georgia’s side and wrapping an arm around her. 

She leaned her head against his shoulder, still smiling. “Doc says I’m good to go.”

Dr. Abbey nodded. "Clean bill of health. Likely even immune now, though some people aren't dedicated enough to science to let me try to infect them."

"Sorry, Dr. Abbey, I'm just no fun like that." Georgia didn't look too bothered, so it probably hadn't been a serious possibility. Still, Shaun's arm tightened around her, just a little. 

Dr. Abbey shrugged. "Between your own reinstated reservoir condition and the fact that I have no doubt you and Shaun have been working hard to try and transmit _his_ immunity back to you, you're probably good." 

Georgia managed to keep a straight face, but only barely. Shaun looked up at the ceiling. Maggie shoved a hand over her mouth to muffle a giggle.

Dr. Abbey continued on without skipping a beat. "I'll know more once I've been able to run a few tests. If you _are_ immune and we could figure out what the source is, it could be a huge breakthrough."

"But first I have to be immune and you have to be able to isolate the source," Georgia said. 

"Yes," Dr. Abbey said, "which is why I need Shaun to pay for your stay at the Shady Cove Forestry Resort with his blood."

"As usual," Shaun said. He pressed a kiss to Georgia's hair, then pulled away. "Well, now's as good a time as ever."

"Right, get over all the medical parts early so you can enjoy your fun vacation to a secret _lab._ " She shook her head and led Shaun back into the room she and Georgia had come from.

"Our options are kind of limited if we want to stay hidden," Shaun said. The door swung shut, cutting off any reply Dr. Abbey might have.

"Good, mad scientist banter," Alaric said, walking into the room. "I am so glad I managed to miss most of that."

Maggie smiled up at him. "Davy's sleeping?"

Alaric nodded distractedly and glanced down at his phone. "Alisa hasn't checked in."

"Is that… unusual?" George asked. "She's a teenager."

"A teenager who was in Florida when the Second Rising happened." Alaric looked at the phone again. "And she was out on assignment."

"Assignment?" Georgia raised an eyebrow.

"For the site." Alaric looked up at her, shoulders hunching a little. "I didn't just hire her because she's my sister. I made sure her work was up to your standards first."

Georgia nodded. "I've read her work. I know. And besides, I'm not in charge anymore, remember? You don't have to justify your choices to me."

Maggie and Alaric exchanged a glance. Georgia might not be in charge anymore, but she was still _Georgia Mason._ The woman who had died to tell the truth. If she really thought her Newsies would ever stop wanting to be sure she’d approve, she wasn’t as smart as they knew she was. 

“Well, anyway, she was on an expedition.” He paused, then added, “to Cuba.”

“Cuba?” Georgia looked over at him, frowning below her sunglasses. 

Alaric nodded. 

There was only one thing she could have been looking for there. “And she hasn’t checked in?”

“Not since yesterday.” Alaric glanced down at his phone again before stuffing it back in his pocket aggressively. “Georgia, if she’s in trouble….”

"There are plenty of reasons she could have missed a check-in," Georgia said, putting up a hand. "Panicking isn't going to help her. We need to figure out what's going on, and then we can decide how to proceed."

"She's investigating the mosquitos, Georgia!" Alaric glared at her, fists clenched at his sides. “If there’s any pockets left of the old CDC, they’re there. And you know how much they hate bloggers."

Georgia blinked behind her glasses. It was so easy to forget Alaric could have as much of a temper as any of them. "I figured as much. But again, we don't _know_ anything." She stepped in a little closer, letting her voice fill with that old confident in-charge tone. "We'll have the team meet up after dinner. If she still hasn't checked in by then, we'll figure out how to proceed."

Alaric stared at her for another moment, then looked away. "Not in charge anymore my ass."

"Alaric…." Georgia shook her head. "Fine. Whatever. Go ask your actual boss instead if you want, but you know Mahir's going to say the same thing. He's even more rational than I am. I'm going to go check on Shaun." She turned abruptly, pushing her way back into the lab.

Alaric glared after her. "Sometimes I really hate her." 

Maggie stood up and wrapped her arms around him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I know. We all do. She's very lucky we also love her."

He leaned his head against hers. "I can't lose Alisa. If she needs help--"

"If she needs help, we'll help her." Maggie touched his chin, turning his head to face her. "And if she _doesn't_ need help, she's going to lecture us on being overprotective again. Georgia's right. We need to give her more time."

"Yeah." He glanced back at the lab door. "I think I hate her most of all when she's right."

 

Alisa still hadn’t checked in after dinner, and Alaric was so on edge it was a wonder he hadn’t exploded. Still, he managed to wait until after they’d put Davy and San to bed before storming into the Masons' room, Maggie hot on his heels. 

Georgia tried to tell herself it was because they were the only two without kids. She wasn’t that good at lying to herself. Mahir was damn good at his job. Better, in many ways, than Georgia had been. But he could never quite replace her. Georgia and Shaun could be retired until they were actually of normal retiring age, and people would still defer to them whenever they showed up.

“Now will you finally admit my sister is in trouble?” Alaric asked, clenching his fists and glaring at them. 

"I admit it's worth looking into," Georgia said, looking at him calmly. "But even if she is, running in half-cocked isn't going to help her. We need to figure out what's actually happening before we can do anything."

Maggie put her hands on Alaric's shoulder, part comforting, part holding him back, part steering him to sit down. "We need to get Mahir in before we make any decisions." She looked back at Georgia. "He _is_ in charge."

Georgia nodded. "He and Nandini are putting Sanjukta to bed. He said he'll be here in a minute."

Alaric let Maggie push him into the chair, but he didn't look remotely calmed down. "If it were Shaun, you'd already be out the door."

That actually got a full expression out of Georgia. She frowned at him, sitting up. "You might be right, but if you think using us as a gauge for reasonable behavior in relation to a sibling is a good idea, you haven't been paying any attention." Maggie coughed. Georgia glanced at her, then added: "Or in relation to _anyone_ you love, for that matter. Besides, if it _were_ Shaun in danger, I'd expect you and Mahir to hold me back until we could come up with an actual plan. That's why we're a _team._ Not individuals running off all half-cocked."

"If it were George in danger, I _would_ run off all half-cocked." Shaun was splayed on the bed, with a sort of casualness that couldn't quite hide how alert and on edge he really was. "And you probably couldn't stop me."

Georgia shot him a glare. "You are _not_ helping."

Shaun shrugged. "Yeah, but Alaric knows me well enough to know that if the version of me that doesn't have you thinks it's a good idea, it's probably really, _really_ not."

"That's..." Alaric frowned, thinking about it, "entirely true."

"And you thought your dramatic speech would convince him," Shaun nudged Georgia, giving her a small smile. "All it took was me being an idiot."

"That implies that you ever _aren't_ an idiot." Mahir's voice came from the doorway, dry and tired. Nandini was with him. "Hello, Alaric. Georgia filled us in earlier."

“We have to help her,” Alaric said. “Come on, Mahir, I almost lost her once.”

“I’m aware. I’m also aware that she is an extremely capable Newsie, and that she brought Doni and Alex with her. They’re some of our finest Irwins. While we will certainly help her if she needs it, you must remember that she’s in as good a situation as it is possible to be.” He looked back and Nandini. “You don’t have to be here for this, love.”

“If Shaun Mason intends to send you off to risk your life again, he’ll do so while looking me in the eye,” Nandini said, crossing her arms with a sharp scowl. 

“Again, Mahir is _my_ boss. He’s the one who does the sending now,” Shaun said. 

Again, no one disagreed. Out loud. 

“In any case, we are not going to make our decisions rashly.” Georgia stood up, frowning beneath her sunglasses. "I talked to Dr. Abbey. She knows people down there. She's contacting them now."

Alaric looked at her uncertainly. "I thought you didn't believe she was in trouble."

"I never said that." Georgia turned towards him, adjusting her sunglasses. "I said we shouldn't make decisions until we know what's going on. I'm well aware that your sister being incommunicado in Cuba does not bode well."

"So why did you--"

Georgia cut him off, making a sharp motion with her hand. "We can argue about this or we can work on helping your sister. Your choice."

Alaric settled back in his seat, still scowling, and was silent.

"That's what I thought." Georgia nodded, then turned to address the rest of the room. "I still maintain my position, though. Until we know everything we _can_ know, there's no point to making decisions. It's still possible she's okay."

"Yeah, she's not okay." Dr. Abbey stood in the doorway, a tablet tucked under her arm. 

Shaun looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "So were you just waiting for the most dramatic point to enter or what?"

Dr. Abbey ignored him and walked into the room. "After the EIS took over, they purged most of the shady characters from the organizations. Most of those people were arrested. But some of them wised on fast enough and left the country. The lab in Cuba is not officially affiliated with the CDC, but then again, it wasn't _officially_ affiliated before either. I sent a spy there six months ago. Aggie. Nice girl. She was spying on me for the CDC when I initially hired her, but she's way better at it now."

"That would be extremely concerning if I didn't know that most of your employees started out as CDC spies," Maggie said.

"It's still a bit concerning," Mahir said.

"Anyway, she's not in deep enough that she has access to most of their secrets. This would include illicitly captured journalists, but as I have frequently pointed out, journalists are loud, obnoxious, and hard to hide." She gave them all a pointed look. "She didn't get to talk to them, but she saw them. They matched your description. The CDC has your sister and her Irwins."

Alaric stood up so fast Maggie couldn't hold him back. "We have to go help her!"

"Of course we do," Mahir said, standing up. "Sit down, Alaric. We're going to help your sister but there are a lot of details that must be considered. Not least, how we're going to get _down_ there. We can't exactly drive, and I suspect we'd rather not get the EIS involved just yet."

"I can handle that," Maggie said. "My parents love Alisa. They'll let us use the jet."

"Of course you have a bloody jet," Mahir said, rubbing his temples. "Do you also have a bloody pilot? Cause I doubt any of us are licensed to fly."

"Well, _yeah,_ " Maggie said. 

“Well, that settles that,” Mahir said. “So we have a way down, but that still doesn’t—wait a tick, where did Nan and Georgia go?”

Sure enough, the two of them were no longer in the room. Shaun, who tended to have extreme awareness of Georgia at any given moment, raised a hand. “George slipped out the side door with that if-anyone-comes-near-me-I-might-murder-then look. Nan followed her.”

Mahir stared at him. “ _What?_ ” 

 

Georgia slipped into an empty room and slid her hand under her sunglasses and over her eyes. She was back to not being able to cry, which was honestly a relief, but sometimes she wished she still could. Not being able to cry meant she had no outlet for the surge of emotions that had risen up in her and threatened to overwhelm her. She just had to curl in on herself and brace herself for the tide. 

She heard the door open behind her. Great, just what she needed. "Shaun, I know you want to help, but right now, I _really_ don't want to be comforted."

There was a pause. "Fortunately," Nandini said, "I had no intention of comforting you."

Georgia turned around then, dropping her hand. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Nandini walked over, running a hand idly over the unused desk in the corner. "Mahir's told me a lot about you, you know. It's funny, of everyone here, you're the one I've talked to least, and yet in some ways I feel I know you best."

"Since you're here when I _clearly_ want to be alone, I'd question that."

Nandini ignored her. "He had so much to say about you, nearly all of it good, and even the bad parts were fond. Georgia Mason, the woman who would tell off God himself without batting an eye if she thought he was lying to her. The stories people write these days paint you as half saint, half martyr. Mahir always described you as more of a walking natural disaster." She put a hand on her hip, cocking her head to the side. "When, precisely, did they declaw you?"

Georgia raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Nandini met her eyes through her sunglasses. "What precisely happened to the woman my husband described?"

"She _died,_ " Georgia said. "Thought you knew that. It was pretty publicly broadcast. I liveblogged the whole thing.”

Nandini waves a hand dismissively. “Yes, it was very moving. So was your triumphant return. It’s just everything since then that’s been, well, _tame._ ”

“I’m retired.” Georgia crossed her arms over her chest. “I got into this business to report the news. Not to make it. But every time we get out there, that’s what happens. Shaun and I found our way out. Is it so wrong for me to be reluctant to give it up?"

"Right, wrong," Nandini shrugged. "What it is is _selfish._ "

Georgia glanced away, twisting her fingers together. "I think I've earned a little selfish."

"Maybe," Nandini glanced back at the door. "But Alisa hasn't earned whatever the CDC has instore for her. Neither have Alex or Doni.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you knew that. You were always going to help her in the end."

Georgia shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t think I could leave Alaric’s sister in need.”

“So why all the drama?” Nandini waved a hand in the general direction of the other room. “Why storm out?”

"For one thing, I certainly didn't _storm,_ " Georgia said. "I don't think anyone but you and Shaun noticed me leaving. That's hardly dramatic. For another…." she looked down at her hands. "Knowing that there's really only one choice I can make doesn't mean I'm happy about it. I'll go. But in all likelihood, it means Shaun and I won't be able to go back to the life we'd led in Canada. It hurts more than I thought it would."

Nandini watched her for another moment, then nodded reluctantly. "I suppose I can understand that." She tilted her head. "You're not really what I thought you'd be."

"You mean the unwavering hardass who tells the truth without hesitating no matter the cost?" a corner of her mouth tilts a little. "She never _really_ existed. I just was better at pretending before I actually _experienced_ the cost."

“I suppose that’s fair,” Nandini’s smile was just as slight. "So long as you're ready to do the right thing, I don't suppose it matters how much you _like_ it."

“So glad you approve,” Georgia said dryly. She stood up, adjusting her sunglasses to make sure they were firmly in place. “Now, I suppose we should get back before the boys kill each other.”

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” Nandini said. “They have Maggie.”

 

Maggie was going to kill Georgia and Nandini. Then she’d probably have to kill Shaun because she knew how poorly he’d take Georgia being murdered, and Mahir, who would likely object to the death of his oldest friends and his wife. Alaric she could probably spare.He loved her enough to help her hide the bodies. 

Mahir was yelling that they had to go after Nandini before Georgia killed her or vice versa. Shaun was arguing that they should leave them alone to work out whatever it was they were talking about. Alaric was just mad they were wasting time when Alisa was in danger. Dr. Abbey had muttered something about needing popcorn and/or hard liquor to deal with this conversation and wandered away. And Maggie….

Maggie was at the end of her patience. 

“All of you, _shut up_ already!” She stood up, her shout cutting through their arguing. “Mahir, Georgia and Nandini are both adults who are unlikely to start fighting for no reason no matter how formidable they both are. Shaun, you’re well aware you and Georgia have been wildcards at best and completely absent at worst since she died the first time. It’s reasonable for Mahir to worry. You know that. Alaric..." she turned towards him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "We're going to get her back."

"How can you be sure?" He raised a hand, covering hers on his shoulder.

Before Maggie could answer, Georgia strode in, followed by Nandini. "Because if there's one thing this team is good at, it's shutting down corruption in the CDC," Georgia said. "They should know better than to mess with After the End Times journalists by now."

Mahir turned towards them, raising an eyebrow. "And where did you two sneak off to."

"Snogging in a closet, obviously," Nandini said. She walked over, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Don't fret, love."

Georgia gave her a look through her sunglasses, then pressed on. "In any case, we need a plan."

"Maggie's got a jet," Shaun said. He came up next to her, touching the back of her arm briefly, in a way that would seem casual to anyone besides the two of them.

Georgia glanced up at him, recognizing the question in his touch and gave him a very slight smile. She wasn't exactly fine, but she was close enough that any conversations could wait. "Well, that solves one problem. Dr. Abbey can get us the building schematics and arm us. We can see if Foxy wants to come too. We can use the extra muscle."

"We're going to find someone here to watch the children," Maggie said. "Obviously, we're not taking them."

"No," Georgia said. She turned towards Mahir. "And we're not taking Mahir or Nandini either."

"What?" Mahir straightened. "That's not fair. Besides, as you've frequently pointed out, I'm _your_ boss. This isn't your call."

"No, but it's the call you'll make." Georgia tugged her sunglasses off, meeting his eyes with her flat, black ones. The light stung. She ignored it. "You _are_ the boss, Mahir, and in a lot of ways you're better at it than I ever was. The site needs you. We need you. If we don't come back…."

"I get to be here, waiting safely out of the line of fire, where I can tell your story. I know the drill by now," Mahir nodded reluctantly. "I hate this."

"I'm fine with it," Nandini said. The hardness in her tone was undermined by the way she touched Mahir's shoulder, squeezing tightly.

"But we're going," Maggie said, taking Alaric's hand. "You know that, right?"

Georgia nodded. "I didn't think I could stop you with Alisa on the line. But Maggie…."

"I know. No field license. I'll wait by the jet and be ready to get you out of there." Maggie nodded. "I know what my skills are. And my limits."

"Good," Georgia said. "Call for your plane. Everyone else, pack up what you need and try and get some sleep. We leave at first light."

 

“Mahir?” Maggie hesitated, a hand resting on the door frame. “Can I grab you for a second?”

Mahir was aggressively typing on his laptop, clearly still unhappy with how things had gone, but when he saw Maggie his shoulders untensed slightly. He gave her a tired smile. “Of course. What’s going on?”

“You know we might not come back from this,” Maggie said. 

Mahir stilled, expression falling. “I know.”

“We also might. I’m not giving up hope for us yet. Especially me, since I’m not going into the field.” She walked over to him, taking a seat on the bed. “But if we _don’t_. You have to take care of Davy for us.”

“Of course I will,” Mahir said. He frowned at her. “But it’s cruel of you to ask. You know I would have.”

“I know,” she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “But she’s my _daughter,_ Mahir. I needed to be sure.” She looked down. “I hate that I’m leaving her.”

“So don’t,” Mahir said. He turned towards her. “You know no one will blame you. You’re a Fictional that’s already had more danger than you signed up for. Stay with me and Nan.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. Alisa’s family, and Alaric….” she swallowed. “I’m not going to leave him with just the Masons for backup. He needs someone there who can provide emotional support.”

Mahir nodded. “I thought that might be the case. Just… be careful.” He reaches forward to take her hand. “You know I’d raise her as my own. Please make sure I don’t have to.”

Maggie wiped her eyes and gave him a smile. “I’ll do my best.”

"I know you will." Mahir smiled at her and squeezed her hand before releasing it. "Now get some rest. We'll keep your girl safe."

 

"You know we probably can't go back, right?" Shaun was checking his guns, making sure they were all loaded and properly taken care of. If they fucked this up, it wasn't going to be because of equipment malfunction.

Georgia was checking her cameras, but her hands stilled, though she didn't look up at him. "I know."

"Just checking," Shaun put the gun down on his lap, looking over at her. "Cause unless we manage to get in and out with no one IDing us… we disappeared once. They won't let us do it again."

"I know."

"And it wouldn't be fair to all our neighbors to--"

"I know!" Georgia finally turned to him. "Believe me, I've thought it all through, but what's our alternative? Let Alaric and Maggie go on their own? Swap out our kevlar for spandex and masks?"

"I mean, you've got the legs for it," Shaun smirked, giving her a long look that on another night might have prompted her to push work aside and tackle him to the bed. "But you'd probably go all Batman on me and hide all the good stuff under a cape."

Tonight, though, she just rolled her eyes. "Cool it, Robin. You know what I mean."

He sat up, sobering instantly, and nodded. "Yeah. I guess no more retirement for us."

"It doesn't have to be like it was before," Georgia said. " _We're_ different. We don't need to give a fuck about ratings anymore, for one."

Shaun smiled. "Yeah, in the unlikely event our ratings start to dip too far, it'll mean our legend's finally died down enough for us to escape back to Canada again." 

"And oh, what a tragedy that would be." Georgia put the camera she was fiddling with next to her on the bed and let herself lean against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "It won't be all bad. You have to be tired of zombie moose by now."

"It's true, they never actually shoot back. Very boring." He dropped a kiss to her forehead and pushed the gun aside so he could wrap his arms around her. "And you have to miss writing stories that matter."

She glowered at him, though it lost some of its force since she was still cuddled up next to him. "My stories matter."

"Sure, to _Newsies._ " He smiled at her, unperturbed. "But you can't seriously tell me anyone else could have gotten away with dedicating an entire week of articles to grasshopper farming and its effect on Mexico's post-Rising economy and not seen their ratings tank."

She shrugged, nestling closer to him. "Maybe not. But I like that I can write about anything and people will read it. The big conspiracies aren't the only stories that matter."

"You'll still be able to do that."

"It won't be the same." She sat up, pulling herself away. "But we don't have a choice. Come on, we have a lot of work to do."

"Your wish, my command." He stole a final kiss, then released her and grabbed his gun again.

 

Maggie sat on the plane, watching the feed from her team's cameras and prayed.

She hated that she couldn't help more. She knew she would be more of a liability than a help, that she didn't go out into the field regularly for a lot of reasons, and that she could serve her friends and family best by staying here and waiting for them. She knew that, and yet she still wanted to run out of the plane guns blazing and take on the entire facility by herself. Or maybe to switch places with Mahir, who didn't spend much time in the field but at least had the licenses for it. 

She wanted Becks back. She wanted _Buffy_ back. She didn't want to lose any more friends. She wanted her family back together. She wanted everyone to come back safely.

Shaun and Foxy were taking the lead, Alaric following, and Georgia taking the rear. Everyone but Foxy was wired up with their usual mass of cameras, so Maggie could see as well as if she were actually there. She wasn't sure if that was a blessing or not, but she couldn't look away. She watched Foxy laughing as she shot down anyone who got in their way. She saw Georgia and Alaric, stone faced, as they navigated and took out anyone Foxy or Shaun missed.

She saw the holding cell Alisa and her two companions were in, and watched as they used a stolen key card to open it.

She saw Georgia get shot, and heard Shaun's scream.

"Start the engines," she told the pilot. "Hurry. They'll be here any minute, and we have to be ready to fly."

With all the calmness she could muster, she fetched the first aid kit from its compartment and put a plastic sheet over the chair closest to the door. She reclined it fully. Private jets meant you could do that during takeoff and landing if you wanted. She opened the door just as the team reached the plane, then pulled on gloves.

Georgia was still breathing. The bullet had passed clean through her shoulder. Shaun held her close in his arms while she kept a hand pressed firmly over the wound.

"Maggie--" Shaun said, eyes wild.

"I know. Put her here," Maggie nodded at the chair. "And go get cleaned up. You might be immune, but you're a walking hotzone for the rest of us."

Shaun stared at her, then nodded, lowering Georgia gently to the chair. "Help her."

"I'll do my best." She spared a smile for Alaric and Alisa as they boarded the plane, then turned towards Georgia. "I'm not a doctor, but I should be able to patch you up well enough to keep your blood inside you until we get to Dr. Abbey. But it's going to hurt."

Georgia nodded shakily. "I'm a big girl, I can handle it." Her voice would have been remarkably steady if Maggie hadn't heard her talk on _actual_ good days.

It wasn't until they were up in the air and Georgia's wound disinfected and firmly wrapped that Maggie let herself breathe again.

"We made it," she said, tugging her gloves off before depositing them in the biohazard bin. She shoved her hand into a blood testing unit and looked over at Alisa, who was watching her anxiously. "Hey, sweetie. You get your story?"

Alisa waited until the lights on Maggie's unit turned green before rushing over to throw her arms around her. "You came for me! I thought I was gonna _die_ there."

Maggie hugged her back just as tightly. "It's okay, you're safe now." She smiled as Alaric came up and wrapped his arms around both of them. "We're _all_ safe." And as soon as they got back to Dr. Abbey's, they'd all be together.

Georgia watched them from where she lay, holding tightly to Shaun's hand. She was still injured enough that she doubted he'd let her out of his sight any time soon, but it didn't seem like it was fatal. She looked up at Shaun and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." He stroked her hand with his thumb. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah." She didn't try to move. "Guess we're back, huh?"

"I guess so." He followed her line of sight, looking at their huddled together friends. "You okay with that?"

Georgia looked at them, the family she helped reunite, at Foxy, staring out the window with a dreaminess that someone who hadn't met her might mistake for a lack of alertness, at Doni and Alex, who she'd never met before. They kept giving her and Shaun looks that were somewhere between admiring and terrified. She thought about Mahir and Nandini, back with Dr. Abbey, taking care of Davy and Sanjukta. 

"Yeah," she said. "I think I am."

She didn't know what was coming next. But she'd be doing it with her family. They could handle it.


End file.
